Dear Friends,

There’s a LOT going on! As I previewed this issue of ECHO News, I came away with a fresh awareness of the many needs, challenges, and opportunities facing small-scale farming families — all of which give rise to many options and considerations. While it is great to have choices, making them (or not making them) entails risk. For most small-scale farming families, the margin for error is tiny, and the consequences are huge. 

And so, it is incumbent on us that we do everything we can to improve the options and reduce the risks! 

We need to listen well, understand their realities, honor their objectives, and offer appropriate and reliable solutions. Our capacity to do this effectively is enhanced by partnering with people like Mike Fennema, and thousands of others, whose hearts, heads, efforts, and passions are aligned with the people they are serving. In concert with them, our engagement can be more knowledgeable, thoughtful, and effective. 

As we engage small-scale farming families, their communities, and development partners with humility and respect, we also reflect well the hope of the Gospel that extends from our present realities on to eternity. This is the fullness of Hope against Hunger that we hold forth as, with you, we serve women, men, and children around the world. 

With gratitude,

David Erickson, President/CEO